The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
A variety of systems and techniques exist for distributing media content to media playback devices. Media playback devices may include, without limitation, mobile phones, tablets, laptop or desktop computers, set-top boxes, and other consumer electronic devices. Many existing systems and techniques rely upon media playback devices that have nearly ubiquitous access to a network, such as a cellular phone network, the Internet, and/or a cable network, over which the media content is distributed. A media distributor will typically have a large catalog of available media content stored on one or more media distribution servers that are deployed at various locations within the network. The catalog will typically be much larger in storage size than the media playback devices are capable of storing. Hence, the servers will typically provide interfaces by which a user may browse the catalog over the network using various applications at media playback devices operated by the user. Users may select specific items of media content from the catalog, which are then transferred over the network from the servers to the media playback devices.
The media content may be viewed in a “streaming” manner, in that the receiving media playback device is configured to begin playing the media content while it is still receiving the media content. Or, the content may be stored at the media playback device for subsequent viewing at some time after the content is downloaded. The network is furthermore typically utilized for determining whether the media playback device is authorized to play certain media content. For instance, a user may be required to “log-in” to a media distribution server from time to time in order to view content from the media distribution server. Or, the media playback device may be configured to authenticate itself to the media distribution server before being allowed to play media content from the media distribution server.
Media distribution techniques and systems such as described above work best in geographic areas where media playback devices frequently have direct access to the network at which the media distribution server(s) are deployed. However, in many parts of the world, such as in developing countries, access to such networks may be limited and/or prohibitively expensive. Consequently, many existing systems and techniques for distributing media content in these parts of the world are deficient.